Lockdown marketing tactics: Outlining Balaji Wafers' increased social media activities

Over the last few months, Balaji Wafers has been posting a lot more than before on social media, we take a closer look at the brand's strategy, understanding how it uses social media to bolster growth in a pandemic-ridden time.

From keeping up with trending conversations to regularly promoting the entire range of products, Balaji Wafers has been quite active on social media in the last few months, especially while the country was braving the pandemic-induced lockdown. Before this, up until October 2019, they used to mostly put up updates about education trips to their factory.

Towards the end of 2019, the brand roped in actor Ayushmann Khurrana as a brand ambassador. Though the brand has not released any campaign with the actor after their initial set of creatives and films, they have visibly amped up their social media activity since. We took a closer look and patterns started to emerge.

Promoting Documentary

Last last year, National Geographic released a documentary on the super factory that is run by Balaji Wafers. It gave viewers a glimpse into their production line. The documentary was promoted using social media.

While NatGeo gave the brand a massy reach, social media was used to create awareness amongst their followers and acquire new users.

Trending Conversations

Lately, Balaji Wafers has been participating in almost all trending conversations, dishing out their own version for whichever format seems to be popular on the day. On some occasions, they incorporate product images in the creatives, on others narratives are built around the various types of snacks they sell as part of their product portfolio.

Nudging for Engagement

With an increase in the number of posts being put up by Balaji Wafers, there has also been a significant increase in the possibility of generating engagement. Often, such posts ask people to perform a task, such as take a screenshot or solve a riddle and revert with a response. These engagements are mostly not incentivised by the brand and focus on creating engagement.

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E-commerce Alerts

Balaji Wafers is not a brand with a long e-commerce history. In fact, the brand's beginning, gradual success, and subsequent popularity have been rooted in a hyperlocal retail strategy. What started off as a home-based business in Rajkot, eventually spread to nooks and crannies of Gujarat. The success the Virani brothers witnessed based on value for money, motivated them to capture the entire West Indian market. If one can recall, the early entry of Balaji wafers in Mumbai was fuelled by mass-appeal among kids who were overjoyed by the quantity of chips in an INR 10 pouch.

However, the pandemic changed things in this regard, nudging them to quicken their pace on the path of transformation. The process has been documented by them as announcements on social media.

Focus on Products

Most of the creatives shared by Balaji Wafers on social media include a picture of their products. These are mostly packets of chips, tacos or boxes of stacked chips. The brand creatives a visual narrative where these products, with or without the packaging, are the ultimate heroes.

With a significant rise in quantity as well as the quality of their social media presence, Balaji Wafers sure have more campaigns up their sleeves. So far, the same creatives are being amplified on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, with minor exceptions in the case of trending creatives that are platform-specific. Given the momentum, it can be expected that this brick and mortar snacks brand is gearing up for an intriguing digital life.